While work can be seen continuing steadily on the building that will become the Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health, the most critical remaining steps toward A.T. Still University being able to welcome students this fall will take place behind the scenes.

ATSU President Dr. Craig Phelps noted in a letter last week that the Missouri campus completed an initial accreditation site visit by the Commission on Dental Accreditation, the accrediting arm of the American Dental Association. Phelps’ letter said a report on the visit will be sent to the university within 4-6 weeks.

Publicly, that’s about as much as ATSU can say, with confidentiality cloaking much of the process. The same goes for anything out of the American Dental Association, as all ADA staff aside from those in the media relations department are barred from speaking with the media.

Last week’s site visit was a middle step in an accreditation process that began last year. An in-depth self-study analysis is compiled and submitted by the institution itself as a first step. Site visits offer the CODA team a chance to put eyes on the institution and gain insights into the administration and educational aspects of the applying program.

All institutions must meet a set of CODA Accreditation Standards, which, according to the organization, “ensure the quality and continuous improvement of dental and dental-related education and reflect the evolving practice of dentistry. The scope of the Commission on Dental Accreditation encompasses dental, advanced dental and allied dental education programs.”

The standards do, however, leave room for flexibility, innovation and experimentation, according to CODA. Given ATSU’s unique program proposal, which would have third and fourth year clinical education based in St. Louis to provide the necessary population base for the accreditation-required 40,000 patient visits, allowance for innovation could be crucial. Most dental schools are housed in urban locations that allow for those all four years of education - and the needed patients.

The report and ATSU’s response to the report will be the primary documents used by CODA for accreditation decisions. The entity meets twice each year to review reports and award status - its next meeting will be this summer.

If approved, ATSU can move forward with accepting applications and welcoming its first class of dental students this fall, but it won’t be its final interaction with CODA. Schools require accreditation visits and renewal every seven years, meaning the university would begin the process anew in 2020.

Vicky Wilbers, executive director with the Missouri Dental Association, said the board has offered its support to ATSU in meeting CODA’s Accreditation Standards and believes in the school’s mission.

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“Our association feels there is definitely a need for more services for the underserved and that’s really the intention for what that school is trying to do,” Wilbers said.